Jackson Lee welcomes Katy-area student from Jordan who...

1of51Mohammad Abu Khadra, 16, left, lives in Katy with his brother, Rami Abu Khadra, right﻿. A native of Jordan, he was detained late last month.Photo: Michael Ciaglo, Staff

2of51Mohammad Abu Khadra, 16, left, who lives in Katy with his brother, Rami Abu Khadra, walks with US Representative Sheila Jackson Lee out of her office Monday, Feb. 13, 2017 in Houston. With Lee's help, Khadra is back in the US after being detained for 10 days upon arrival from Jordan due to Donald Trump's immigration orders.Click through the slideshow to see protests to President Donald Trump's travel ban.Photo: Michael Ciaglo, Houston Chronicle

7of51Demonstrators protest against President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston. Sunday's events continue a weekend of unrest in Houston and around the country as federal officials closed the border, blocking families from reuniting in the U.S. and refugees resettling around the country.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

8of51Demonstrators protest against President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston. Sunday's events continue a weekend of unrest in Houston and around the country as federal officials closed the border, blocking families from reuniting in the U.S. and refugees resettling around the country.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

9of51Yehyia Aljuboory, 29, an Iraqi with green card, left, walks past demonstrators with his friend, Mohammed Jalil, 28, after Aljuboory arrived in Houston after being detained for several hours upon arrival to the United States on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

10of51Demonstrators protest against President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston. Sunday's events continue a weekend of unrest in Houston and around the country as federal officials closed the border, blocking families from reuniting in the U.S. and refugees resettling around the country.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

11of51Pia Das speaks to demonstrators as they protest against President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston. Sunday's events continue a weekend of unrest in Houston and around the country as federal officials closed the border, blocking families from reuniting in the U.S. and refugees resettling around the country.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

12of51Stevens Orozco speaks to demonstrators as they protest against President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston. Sunday's events continue a weekend of unrest in Houston and around the country as federal officials closed the border, blocking families from reuniting in the U.S. and refugees resettling around the country.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

13of51Demonstrators protest against President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston. Sunday's events continue a weekend of unrest in Houston and around the country as federal officials closed the border, blocking families from reuniting in the U.S. and refugees resettling around the country.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

14of51Shifa Abuzaid speaks to demonstrators as they protest against President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston. Sunday's events continue a weekend of unrest in Houston and around the country as federal officials closed the border, blocking families from reuniting in the U.S. and refugees resettling around the country.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

15of51Demonstrators protest against President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston. Sunday's events continue a weekend of unrest in Houston and around the country as federal officials closed the border, blocking families from reuniting in the U.S. and refugees resettling around the country.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

16of51A woman talks to a police officer during a protest at George Bush Intercontinental Airport against President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston. Sunday's events continue a weekend of unrest in Houston and around the country as federal officials closed the border, blocking families from reuniting in the U.S. and refugees resettling around the country.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

17of51Demonstrators protest against President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston. Sunday's events continue a weekend of unrest in Houston and around the country as federal officials closed the border, blocking families from reuniting in the U.S. and refugees resettling around the country.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

18of51Demonstrators protest against President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston. Sunday's events continue a weekend of unrest in Houston and around the country as federal officials closed the border, blocking families from reuniting in the U.S. and refugees resettling around the country.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

19of51Demonstrators protest against President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston. Sunday's events continue a weekend of unrest in Houston and around the country as federal officials closed the border, blocking families from reuniting in the U.S. and refugees resettling around the country.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

20of51Demonstrators protest against President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston. Sunday's events continue a weekend of unrest in Houston and around the country as federal officials closed the border, blocking families from reuniting in the U.S. and refugees resettling around the country.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

21of51Demonstrators protest against President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston. Sunday's events continue a weekend of unrest in Houston and around the country as federal officials closed the border, blocking families from reuniting in the U.S. and refugees resettling around the country.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

22of51Demonstrators protest against President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston. Sunday's events continue a weekend of unrest in Houston and around the country as federal officials closed the border, blocking families from reuniting in the U.S. and refugees resettling around the country.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

23of51A woman talks to a police officer during a protest against President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston. Sunday's events continue a weekend of unrest in Houston and around the country as federal officials closed the border, blocking families from reuniting in the U.S. and refugees resettling around the country.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

24of51during a protest at George Bush Intercontinental Airport against President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston. Sunday's events continue a weekend of unrest in Houston and around the country as federal officials closed the border, blocking families from reuniting in the U.S. and refugees resettling around the country.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

25of51A family stands in ther terminal during a demonstration protesting against President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston. Sunday's events continue a weekend of unrest in Houston and around the country as federal officials closed the border, blocking families from reuniting in the U.S. and refugees resettling around the country.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

26of51Stevens Orozco speaks to demonstrators as they protest against President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston. Sunday's events continue a weekend of unrest in Houston and around the country as federal officials closed the border, blocking families from reuniting in the U.S. and refugees resettling around the country.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

27of51International passengers walk past demonstrators as they protest against President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston. Sunday's events continue a weekend of unrest in Houston and around the country as federal officials closed the border, blocking families from reuniting in the U.S. and refugees resettling around the country.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

28of51Demonstrators protest against President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Houston. Sunday's events continue a weekend of unrest in Houston and around the country as federal officials closed the border, blocking families from reuniting in the U.S. and refugees resettling around the country.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

30of51Demonstrators chant as they protest anti-immigrant policies and a Muslim travel ban instituted via executive order by the Trump administration as they fill the international arrivals area at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2017, in Houston.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

31of51Demonstrators chant as they protest anti-immigrant policies and a Muslim travel ban instituted via executive order by the Trump administration as they fill the international arrivals area at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2017, in Houston.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

51of51Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, center, a Senior Member of the House Judiciary Committee and the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations during a press conference at Bush Intercontinental Airport, challenging the Executive Order regarding the ban on selective Muslim nations. (For the Chronicle/Gary Fountain, January 29, 2017)Photo: Gary Fountain, Gary Fountain/For the Chronicle

A 16-year-old from Jordan stood silently midday Monday in the decorated downtown office of a Houston-area congresswoman, his hands folded in front of him.

For 20 minutes, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee spoke to media about the recent ordeals of the young man, Mohammad Abu Khadra.

A Katy-area student, Mohammad was detained in Houston at Bush Intercontinental Airport when he returned from his native country a day after President Donald Trump issued his immigration ban on Jan. 27.

The Democratic congresswoman called Mohammad an "innocent child," explaining that he had gone home to renew the documents that allowed him to be in America. They had expired after he spent a few months living in the U.S. with his brother.

"He's just a young man who wanted to come to the United States, as many others do," she said.

The teenager looked every bit a part of the diverse American youth, with hair cut stylishly short on the sides and long on top. He wore a slim-fitting shirt, buttoned up to the collar, with rolled-up jeans and a big, blue wristwatch.

His brother, 37, who has lived in America for five years, stood next to him in a suit and tie.

Mohammad had been taking courses here in English as a second language, Jackson Lee said. But, because his parents in Jordan feared trouble, he spoke not a word to the press Monday, except to spell his name.

His story - which has been reported by the Houston Chronicle and other news outlets - was instead told in further detail through Jackson Lee in a small conference room.

When Mohammad came to Texas on a tourist visa a few months prior, he had no trouble, she said. He had the documents required. And when he returned to renew his paperwork, she continued, he was doing exactly what was required of him.

Landing back again in Houston, however, Mohammad had been swept up needlessly in Trump's ban, she said, which does not even include Jordan, a longtime U.S. ally.

"They pulled him aside and kept asking him, 'What are you doing? Where are you going? What is your business?' " she said. "The questions continued."

At some point, Mohammad told authorities that he was enrolled in school.

Enrolling in public school is a violation of his visa, yet Jackson Lee explained that he was taking only ESL courses - something he perhaps had not been able to explain. Katy ISD on Monday reiterated that it could not comment on whether a person was currently enrolled. His attorney did not return a request for clarification.

Authorities sent him to Chicago. Jackson Lee personally flagged his case to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. "This is a 16-year-old and this should not have happened to him," she said.

Because he was a minor, the case moved from the Department of Homeland Security to Health and Human Services, which eventually released him.

An HHS spokeswoman declined to comment on the young man's case in an email, saying the agency "does not identify individual unaccompanied children" to ensure their privacy, safety and well-being.

Monday marked the first meeting between Mohammad and Jackson Lee. His attorney, who Jackson Lee said was working to continue to ensure Mohammad's legal status here, was also present. Jackson Lee said she had wanted to give Mohammad a civics lesson so that he knew that U.S. laws - and lawmakers - could work for him, not just against him.

Emily Foxhall is the Texas Storyteller for the Houston Chronicle. She joined the Chronicle as a suburban reporter in 2015 after two years spent reporting for the Los Angeles Times and its community papers. Her writing has also appeared in the New York Times, the Texas Tribune and the New York Observer. She is a Yale graduate and Houston native.